Scots Railways Saves the Day – Newest Addition to Rail Network
Scots Railways Saves the Day –
Newest Addition to Rail Network
For one week only the good people South Lanarkshire have been rescued by rail enthusiasts. When the local council decided to resurface the the B797, the only road in or out. The road was to be closed for up to two weeks. The village of Wanlockhead, probably Scotland’s highest village, needs the road for access to the only shop and doctor’s surgery in the area which is two miles away in neighbouring Leadhills. The village has a lifeline bus route which keeps the prescriptions and supplies coming but without the B797 there is a very long 50 mile diversion in place.
Amateurs Save the Day
But then the amateur rail enthusiasts who run a small gauge train from Leadhills to Glengonnar Halt have come to the rescue. For the first time the bus has been replaced by a train based bus replacement service, great! They set up the railway some 30 years ago and normally only do week end and summer services, until the local council drops a brick.
Bus Replacement is a Train
While the builders resurfaced and repainted the B797, the Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway has run a full timetable to help the locals out with 18 trains a day and at much lower prices than normal. It means that villagers can meet buses in Leadhills and then trains in Lanark and Glasgow.
The trip is a mere three quarters of a mile and is in mostly open carriages and it isn’t fast, at five miles an hour up hill and eight miles an hour downhill. The L&WR is run by volunteers, drawn from across southern Scotland and is the highest narrow gauge railway in the UK at some 1,500ft above sea level.
James Pirie’s Train and Bus Replacement Service
Now we can’t offer you help with the bus or train being cancelled, but we can offer an alternative to leaving your house at all. That is 24 hour a day shopping at the click of a mouse. And I don’t mean the Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie of the Burns poem. We have stuff for him, for her, for celebrations and anniversaries. Gifts aplenty that’s us!
